Social workers gather in Gothenburg to shape the future of social justice
With 381 participants from all over the world, the University of Gothenburg hosted this year's International Conference on Social Work. The conference, themed "Social Work as Emancipatory Practice", highlights the role of social work in paving the way for a more just world.
For three days in June, social workers from 19 countries gathered at the top of Medicinareberget in Gothenburg. With three keynote speakers and 70 side sessions to choose from, participants shared knowledge on how social work can work towards social change.
– Creating pathways for emancipatory practice and social justice, I think that is a wonderful message for a conference like this. It is an ambitious and an important theme to highlight in times like these, says Professor Göran Therborn, one of the keynote speakers at the conference.
Theme highlighting today's challenges
The theme of the conference is "Social Work as Emancipatory Practice". The aim is to explore how social work, as an emancipatory practice, can create pathways towards social justice. Researchers, practitioners and students from all over the world have gathered to discuss issues of social justice, human rights and equality.
Day 1: Honorary doctor from South Africa kicked off this year's conference
The first speaker is Professor Vishanthie Sewpaul from South Africa. Sewpaul is the first day's keynote speaker, a researcher in social work and human rights and a well-known activist. With three honorary doctorates, from Chile, Norway and Sweden, she sets the scene for the day with her lecture "Emancipatory decolonial Ubuntu-based social work praxis: Towards eco-social justice", where she emphasises the need for justice and sustainability in social work.
– How do we move from radical approaches to emancipatory practice? We need to move beyond analysing intersectional social criteria and power, to an approach that combines critique and action. We also need to free ourselves from the limitations of our own and society's thinking, says Vishanthie Sewpaul.
Day 2: Wall of shame and demands are encapsulated
What issues do social workers need to focus on to meet today's challenges? That was the question Professor Sewpaul ended his lecture with the day before. University of Gothenburg lecturer Heikki Tikkanen summarised the question by inviting participants to reflect on the issue, using the "Wall of shames and claims". What are social workers ashamed of and what claims do they need to make for a better future?
In the main entrance of the Wallenberg Conference Centre, a wall of notes is visible, the "Wall of shames and claims". Needs, wishes, demands and shame adorn the handwritten notes. One wishes for more space for minorities and another sees the need for stronger positions from social workers, researchers and practitioners. Dr Tikkanen promises the participants to collect, preserve and save the content, along with a reflection from him at the end of the conference. Ten years from now, at the conference in 2034, the time capsule will be opened.
– What happened to what we were ashamed of? Have we worked on the issues and made demands on the challenges we saw? It will be interesting to read in ten years, says Heikki Tikkanen during the conference.
Collaborative research for change
The second keynote speaker of the day is Professor Ilse Julkunen from the University of Helsinki. Her lecture, "Change Research in Contemporary Entanglements", emphasised the importance of collaborative research and how cooperation between researchers, practitioners and users can lead to real social change. Julkunen conducts research on youth vulnerability, transitions, practical research methodology and comparative research.
– Through research that engages people, institutions and user organisations, we can advance the goal of more sustainable well-being, Ilse Julkunen said in the lecture.
Day 3: Historical narrative with hope for social justice
The third and final day of the conference began with the rock star of the social sciences, as FORSA describes him in a Facebook post, Göran Therborn. Therborn is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Cambridge and Professor of Sociology at Linnaeus University.
"He gives us a raw and honest description of the context of social work then and now while giving us hope." writes FORSA-Väst on Facebook about Therborn's speech.
Therborn's lecture is telling in its depiction of the challenges and opportunities facing social workers today.
– The road to social justice is most likely an uphill climb all the way. But the world can change. It has changed, partly because of the classical enlightenment. Thank you for putting emancipation and social justice on the agenda. I wish you all the best and success, says Göran Therborn.
See more pictures from the conference
Post on the Department of Social Work Facebook on June 17th 2024
Post on the Department of Social Work Facebook on June 20th 2024
Post on the Department of Social Work LinkedIn on June 20th 2024
Image and text: Louise Älgne, communications
NASSW/FORSA is an international conference organised every two years. Different universities host the conference. This year, the Department of Social Work at the University of Gothenburg hosted the conference.
The conference is organised under the auspices of FORSA (Swedish Association for Research in Social Work) and NASSSW (Nordic association for schools of social work). The conference has previously been held in Helsinki, Reykjavik, Bodø and now in Gothenburg.
The 2024 conference took place between 17 June and 19 June with the theme "Social Work as Emancipatory Practice - Creating Pathways towards Social Justice".
The conference in numbers:
- 381 participants
- 19 countries represented
- 3-day conference
- 3 keynote speakers
- 70 parallel side tracks, sessions, with lectures, workshops and synopses
- 7 focus areas, all under themed "Social work as an emancipatory practice: Creating pathways to social justice".
